#Visions Owes Much To Akira Kurosawa

“Duel”, the first short film in “Star Wars: Visions”, takes cues from “Yojimbo” and “Seven Samurai.” The Ronin blows into town and finds himself in a tea shop, much like Toshiro Mifune in “Yojimbo.” You can tell that special attention was paid to the entirety of the short film to give it that grainy, black-and-white film look that permeates older prints of these Kurosawa films. 

“Duel” also plays insistently with imagery straight from the Kurosawa classic. The wind rolling in on the road, pulling at the Ronin’s uniform instantly brings to mind the classic shot of Mifune walking through the dusty street, toward the gang who needs to be taught a lesson. The Sullustan’s shop in “Duel” functions identically to the space that Mifune’s character finds himself in as he watches the competing sides duke it out for control of their tiny village. The short also brings in elements from “Seven Samurai,” as the villagers under attack are circled before the bandits just like the opening of Kurosawa’s 1954 masterpiece. The ending duel in “Duel” takes as much inspiration from “Revenge of the Sith” as it does the master swordsman’s duels.

More than anything, “Duel” dials up the samurai elements of “Star Wars,” increasing up the traditional role of samurai in real-life history and casting them as Jedi and Sith. Sith seem less evil in this iteration of the story, and more like the wandering ronin of jidaigeki films. Author Emma Mieko Candon takes that idea even further in her expanded adaptation of “Duel” in the novel “Star Wars: Ronin.” There are scenes in the book evocative of the Lucas-produced “Kagemusha,” with feudal Jedi lords jockeying for position with the samurai in their control. There are definitely threads in the book similar to the post-war malaise of Kurosawa’s “Drunken Angel,” as well.